Discourse for all interested in all things air-quality related
As drought conditions worsen in the western U.S., it is there that water is becoming more and more scarce. As for that which is at the surface and below, you know, the subsurface supply, is everything being done that can be done to get the most out of this extremely valuable resource? In California’s San … Read more
July 11, 2021 begins a new era in space flight as the United Kingdom’s Sir Richard Branson via an exciting and revolutionary rocketing system, rode into sub-orbital space, that’d be 65 miles up. The entire flight lasted all of an hour and the elevation reached was high enough for the flight crew in question to … Read more
Vital signs – Temperature check: Never before did I even think that this planet of ours would be affected by the three simultaneous threats of global warming, air pollution and COVID-19, any one of these having the potential to be totally devastating. In my lifetime the world has warmed – no question. How much hotter? … Read more
In my previous post “Earth Day 2021: Transformations,” as the title suggests, the message is all about change. There is perhaps no one area where change is more apparent than in that of broadcast journalism. The change I’m referring to – broadcasting done digitally or cybernetically – grew out of a perceived or the real … Read more
It could otherwise be called the race to net-zero or net-negative airborne emissions of carbon/carbon dioxide (C/CO2), specifically the part or amount put there by us. The idea behind achieving baseline or below-baseline atmospheric C/CO2 that’s been anthropogenically introduced through fossil fuel-burning activities, experts are telling us, is to restore balance or equilibrium to the … Read more
I see these advertisements for air fresheners. Never used one nor do I ever intend to. But, by their very being, it is suggestive that the air within interior spaces, particularly in automobiles and trucks, can get a bit stale and/or musty-smelling. Though relatively inexpensive, the question is: Do air fresheners go far enough, meaning, … Read more
In April, presumably, when the American Lung Association releases its annual “State of the Air” report (the first one issued in 2000), my expectation is that for fine particulate matter pollution (PM 2.5) averaged over 24 hours and PM 2.5 recorded on an annual basis, the major cities in California’s heartland, the expansive, sprawling San … Read more
The U.S. has officially re-entered the Paris Climate Accord. Looking back to early 2016 at the time the agreement was ratified, an aim was to keep Earth’s mean surface temperature from rising 2 degrees Celsius [C] above what it was at the 19th century’s doorstep, the understanding here, of course, being that if kept to … Read more
Jakarta, Indonesia, 18 February – PM2.5 air pollution was behind approximately 160,000 deaths in the world’s five most populous cities in 2020, according to a Greenpeace Southeast Asia analysis of IQAir data from a live Cost Estimator.1,2 While some cities saw small improvements in air quality as a result of COVID-19 lockdowns, the devastating impact of air pollution underscores … Read more
Every person and their brother, or so it would seem, has ideas for how they think carbon net-zero emissions can be achieved. Even Microsoft founding partner Bill Gates has gotten involved. In fact, he weighs in on the matter in a new book. One approach involves pulling carbon out of the atmosphere and using it … Read more